•Level of course and maturity of students

•Time frame

•Staging

•Availability and access to learning resources

•Use of prompting questions

•Role of problem in accomplishing course objectives

Important Considerations in Writing Problems

Types of Learning Objectives

Content-oriented: subject specific– Basic knowledge and understanding of specific

concepts, techniques, etc. in the discipline

Process-oriented: global skills– Effective communication: oral and written

– Acquiring and evaluating information

– Working effectively with others

– Higher order, critical thinking

What Factors Influence DecisionsAbout Problems?

Who is the problem writer?- discipline

- control issues

- level of investment

What is the course?- students (number and level)

- sequencing of course/problems

- time/structure of class

Two Schemes for Writing Problems:

1. Think of one or more learning objectives in your course

2. Name a realistic application of the concept(s). Outline a scenario.

1. Think of a realistic scenario from the news, a film, a popular press article, or from a research controversy.

2. What learning objectives for your course are evident in the scenario?

Assignment for groups or individuals – pick a scheme and complete Steps 1 & 2. When finished, share your ideas with your neighbors

Physics Example

Traditional examples:• Pool balls colliding• Bullets hitting blocks of

wood

Course Objective:Conservation of Momentum

Not very good material for a motivational PBL problem!

Traditional End-of-Chapter Problem

A 1500-kg car traveling east with a speed of 25 m/s collides at an intersection with a 2500-kg van traveling north at a speed of 20 m/s. Find the direction and magnitude of the velocity of the wreckage after the collision, assuming that the vehicles undergo a perfectly inelastic collision (ie, they stick together).

Serway and Faughn. 3rd ed. College Physics, Saunders, 1992.

Not much improvement, critical thinking-wise, but more promising as the basis for a good story, good PBL problem.

A Real Traffic Accident

• Based on police sketch

• Students need to make assumptions and approximations

• Information given

gradually

throughout problem

Some Ideas for the Real-World Context

Ideas:• Add story-telling to end-of-chapter problem.• Add motivation, require students to go beyond

rote learning, do research.• Include decision-making. • Other?

Name a realistic application of the concept.

Outline a scenario.

Sources and Strategies for Writing Problems

Newspaper articles, news events

Popular press in the discipline

Make up a story – based on content objectives

Adapt a case to a problem

Research papers

Other?

Step Three:Outline the problem

Suggestions:• Good PBL problem has multi-page, multi-stage

construction - leave students guessing!• Not all information given in chapter or text -

students look for resources.• Challenge students to come to consensus, reach

conclusions, and make judgments.

Outline the problem stages – write a “story board”

John Henry - Traffic Cop

Stage 1: What questions need to be answered? What measurements, data? What physics principles? Then initial introduction to momentum.

Stage 2: Sketch given, some information given; students analyze and ask questions.

Stage 3: Outline procedure, make assumptions, Apply concepts.

Stage 4: Make judgment and rationalize decision based on physics principles

What’s Ahead:Next Problem Writing Step (4)

Continue to draft the storyline beyond a sketchy scenario – begin to write the first stageThink about point-of-view, nature of the end-of-stage questions, suitability for ‘audience,’ alignment with problem and course objectives

Writing PBL Problems Start with a Story Start with the Concepts

Research Research

What concepts are Look for the story to use involved?

Research the Problem

First Draft (Point of view, focus, appropriateness for audience, staging,

objectives nature of the end-of-stage questions)

Research, Draft II (refine)

Teaching

Draft III From C. F. Herreid, SUNY Buffalo & W. Welty, Pace University

Types of Knowledge & Types of Problems

Type of Knowledge Descriptive Explanatory

Type of Problem Fact-finding Explanation

Examples Following changes related to land use in Zimbabwe, many internal borders changed.

People in the 15th century used to believe it was possible to fall off the earth.

Example of Question

What would a legal map look like?

Explain why?

Source: M. Savin-Baden and C. Major. 2004. Foundations of PBL.Berkshire, England: Open University Press.

Types of Knowledge & Types of Problems

Type of Knowledge

Procedural Personal

Type of Problem Strategy Moral dilemma

Examples A 45-year old woman cannot lift her arm more than 45 degrees and she complains of pins and needles in her arm.

A mother breaks into a drugstore to obtain expensive, life-saving drugs for her child. The next day she tells her physician what she has done.

Example of Question

If you were this client’s therapist, what would you do?

What should the physician do?